IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2014) 5-1

Research article

erd
Assessment on Local Awareness of Organic Farming
Practices in Kampong Cham of Cambodia

LALITA SIRIWATTANANON*
Faculty of Agricultural Technology, Rajamangala University of Technology Thanyaburi,
Pathum Thani, Thailand
Email: L_siriwattananon@hotmail.com

KUMIKO KAWABE
Graduate School of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo,Japan
Japan Research Center, Institute of Environment Rehabilitation and Conservation, Tokyo,
Japan

MACHITO MIHARA
Faculty of Regional Environment Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, Japan

Received 26 Decomber 2012 Accepted 26 July 2013 (*Corresponding author)

Abstract In rural areas of Cambodia, more than 70% of the total population is in the
agricultural and related sectors, which are the important sectors of the Cambodian national
economy. Rapid development of agricultural technologies depending on agricultural
chemicals such as synthetic fertilizers, herbicide or pesticide has significantly increased
agricultural production since 1990 (MAFF, 2009). However, overuse of agricultural
chemicals is damaging the long-term soil fertility and productivity of farmlands. Also,
agricultural chemicals released from farmlands to downstream cause the degradation of
water environment. So, attention has been paid to promote sustainable agriculture through
organic farming practices. Taking into account the conventional farming practices of rice
and vegetable cultivations that have been done by local farmers, various workshops and
trainings were conducted to promote organic farming practices. This paper dealt with the
discussion on sustainability of organic farming practices introduced on the basis of local
awareness. In addition, various workshops and trainings on organic farming practices were
assessed in this study.
Keywords organic farming practices, crop production, local awareness, Kampong Cham

INTRODUCTION

In developing countries like Asia, agriculture plays an important role for economic growth as well
as poverty reduction in rural areas. Rapid development of agricultural technologies has
significantly increased agricultural production in Asia. Cambodia’s economy is also based on
agriculture. More than 70% of the total population of 13.8 million is in agriculture and related sub-
sectors such as livestock raising, fisheries, aquaculture for their livelihoods. Although Cambodian
farmers produce wide variety of crops, the major crop is paddy rice. However, agricultural sector
remains unpredictable because it depends largely on natural topography and weather conditions.
Currently in Cambodia, farming system tends to change to mono-cropping system with increasing
cash crop demands, and the majority of farmers in Cambodia apply agricultural chemicals, such as
chemical fertilizer, herbicide or pesticide to maintain high levels of crop yields.
Agricultural chemicals being released from farmlands cause not only polluting water
environment but also worsening human health. The application of herbicides or pesticides without
understanding of the safe usage results severe problems as the contamination of toxics in
agricultural products that would induce human diseases. Also, the environmental integrity becomes
necessary for human prosperity and sustainable development because of rapid and prevalent

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environmental degradation, as agricultural practices by human beings are directly connected to the
long-term environmental and sustainable development.
Recently, organic farming practices are promoted to local farmers in Kampong Cham province
of Cambodia, as it contributes to increase organic and nutrient contents with improving soil
physical and chemical properties, and to reduce the expenditure of agricultural chemicals for local
farmers. In addition, organic farming practices may harmonize more with natural environment
compared to conventional one depending on agricultural chemicals (Pinamonti, 1998, Brown et al.,
2004 and ERECON, 2009). So, attention has been paid to suitable strategy to promote sustainable
agriculture through organic farming practices. In this study, various workshops and trainings were
conducted to promote local perception on organic farming practices, such as composting, making
and applying bio-pesticide or liquid fertilizer. Based on various extension activities, this paper dealt
with the assessment on local awareness of organic farming practices through the observation on the
changes in farming practices.

METHODOLOGY

The target area of Roung Kor Village, Baray Commune in Prey Chhor District, Kampong Cham
Province was selected for the case study to conduct the assessment on local awareness of organic
farming practices, such as composting, making and applying bio-pesticide or liquid fertilizer. In the
initial stage of this study, a baseline survey using a questionnaire sheet was conducted in August
2010 to get the basic information of local living as well as conventional farming practices in the
village.
Then, various kinds of workshops and trainings were conducted to promote local awareness of
organic farming practices as shown in Table 1. In the target area of Roung Kor Village, Baray
Commune in Prey Chhor District, Kampong Cham Province, the core target farmers at 43 were
selected in the study. And then, the local awareness and the changes in farming practices were
evaluated.

Table 1 Important contents done for raising local awareness on organic farming practices
Number of
Month and year Important contents
participants
April 2010 Starting project 43
Conducting a baseline survey 43
|
Holding workshop on composting 41
March 2011 Holding training on composting 43
April 2011 Holding workshop on compost application 41
Holding training on compost application 43
| Holding workshop on making and applying bio-pesticide and liquid fertilizer 42
Holding training on making and applying bio-pesticide and liquid fertilizer 43
March 2012 Holding workshop on applying net for protecting insects 43
April 2012 Cultivating vegetables with organic farming practices 43
Cultivating rice with organic farming practices 41
|
Selling safe agricultural products 43
March 2013 Assessing local awareness of organic farming practices 43

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Conventional Farming Practices

Local living: According to the results of baseline surveys, Roung Kor village has 756 inhabitants
(196 households). There are 104 ha of paddy fields and 6 ha of orchards/upland fields. Around 20%
of paddy fields are irrigated and others are depending on rainfalls. One household of farmer holds
farmland at around 0.5 ha averagely. Around 66% of all households earn for their living
exclusively from agriculture and all households cultivate rice and vegetables. The average rice
yield varies from 1.5 t/ha to 3.0 t/ha. Rice is planted mainly for self-consumption but remains were

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sold to middle man. Additionally, vegetable are cultivated in a small scale farms around resident.
As a unit price of vegetables is high, many households generate cash income from vegetable
cultivation.
Rice cultivation: Various species of rice have been cultivated by local farmers, such as IR66, Chul
Sar, Sen Pidou, Riang Chey, Phnom Run, Car 6, Car 9, Ksay sticky rice, Somaly, Neang Nok,
Kong or variety 59. Due to the lack of water for irrigation, farmers are conducting rice cultivation
only once per year depending on rainfalls. To increase the rice productivity, chemical fertilizer is
commonly applied for rice cultivation, especially ‘Urea’ (N:P:K 46-0-0) or ‘Di-Ammonium
Phosphate’ (18-46-0).
Vegetable cultivation: In the target area, farmers are cultivating vegetables based on the market
demands, especially various types of cabbage such as Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa L. subsp.
ekinensis), Green kuang futsol (Brassica chinensis juslenius) and Swatow mustard (Brassica
juncea var. rugosa). Every two days, middle man comes to village for buying all vegetables then
brings them to the market or restaurants. In the village, local farmers continue growing vegetable
all round year, approximately harvesting 4 times per year. Some vegetables take only 30 days but
some take longer more than 45 days. In dry season, some farmers cannot grow vegetables for a few
months because of too many insects as well as lack of water. Additionally, farmers are afraid of
applying multi-cropping or crop rotation; because they worry that enough income would not be
achieved from selling various types but could get from small amounts of each vegetable. As same
as rice cultivation, farmers are applying a lot of chemical fertilizers and pesticides for vegetable
cultivation. Some farmers are applying more than 800 kg/ha of chemical fertilizer for cultivating
vegetables. The most popular formula of chemical fertilizer applied in vegetable farms are granular
form at N:P:K 46-0-0, 18-46-0 or 15-15-15, in addition to liquid form of 16-16-8 or powder form
of 30-5-5, etc. Actually, farmers not well known about the benefit or effect of each fertilizer on
vegetable growth, but they apply according to what they have been told by the sellers or other
farmers.

Fig. 1 Crop cultivations and agricultural chemical application in Roung Kor village

Chemical pesticide or fungicide application: Based on the advertisements by the pesticide

company or seller, a few types of chemical pesticide or fungicide such as Visor, Reagant 1.8
EC/Vitaco, Carbendazim and Abamectin, etc. are widely applied especially for vegetable
cultivation by farmers. Farmers are expected it can help to decrease or stop insect or disease
problems. Normally, the effectiveness of pesticide works well at the first time, and then it decreases
because insect or disease improves their immunity. So, it is better to change a type of pesticide.
However, they just try to apply same pesticide with increasing the amount applied, as farmers do
not understand well. Most of pesticides or fungicides are imported from Thailand or Vietnam
through both regular and irregular ways. However, farmers have a less understanding about the
effect of those chemical on health or environment, even some sellers or farmers had been told or
joined the safety use training coordinated by the governments or NGOs before start selling or using
this kind of products. However, the safety use instruction is still not commonly understood by
farmers.

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Organic Farming Practices Promoted

Promoting organic farming practices: For decreasing the expenses of buying chemical fertilizer
and the effects on natural resource and human health, sustainable farming practice through
composting and liquid bio-fertilizer/pesticide making were proposed to farmers as alternative
farming practices. According to the previous surveys and requests from farmers in Roung Kor
village, 43 compost boxes (2 m x 4 m x 1 m) were constructed for composting as same as plastic
container were distributed for making bio-fertilizer and bio-pesticide. Then, the workshop on “how
to make compost” was conducted for giving knowledge and training to farmers at Roung Kor
village. In addition to bio-fertilizer and bio-pesticide were introduced and trained to farmers by
using available materials in/around the village.

Fig. 2 Workshops on making compost, liquid bio-fertilizer and liquid bio-pesticide

For 2 years, organic fertilizer application through composting and liquid bio-fertilizer/
pesticide making had been promoted to farmers in Roung Kor village for supporting to increase the
productivity and decrease effects to health and environment. Totally 43 compost boxes had been
provided to 43 farmers, and all 43 farmers learned how to make compost and application methods
in farmlands.
During the 2nd year, farmers had produced compost averagely 4,363 kg per compost box.
Since then a few times composting had been done and applied to farmlands especially for rice and
vegetable cultivation. Averagely, 150 kg of compost had been applied for 100 m2 of rice cultivation
and 119 kg for 100 m2 of vegetable cultivation. Additionally with the application of compost,
farmers can decrease the amount of chemical fertilizer about 20-100 percent as shown in Table 2.
Through farmers’ observation, all of 43 farmers were satisfied with the effectiveness of compost
(Table 3) and willing to continue composting. Also, farmers understanding on making bio-fertilizer
and bio-pesticide and safety use of chemical pesticide. The results were summarized in Tables 4
and 5.
Table 2 Decrease in chemical fertilizer through compost application
Decrease in Percentage of farmers
chemical fertilizer (%)
0-20% -
20-40% 10
40-60% 56
60-80% 32
80-100% 2
Source: Results from the questionnaire survey (ERECON, 2011)

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Table 3 Changes in crop growing after applying compost

Crop yield (%) Crop quality (%) Soil quality (%)
Increase 98 93 100
Same 2 7 -
Decrease - - -
Source: Results from the questionnaire survey (ERECON, 2011)

Table 4 Percentage of amount of chemical fertilizer or pesticide to be decreased

Decreasing percentage up to
Content
0-20% 20-40% 40-60% 60-80% 80-100%
Decreasing chemical fertilizer with applying bio-fertilizer 2% 2% 21% 51% 24%
Decreasing chemical pesticide with applying bio-pesticide 0% 0% 35% 53% 12%
Source: Results from the questionnaire survey (ERECON, 2011)

Table 5 Summary of questionnaire results of workshop on bio-fertilizer, bio-pesticide and

safety use of chemical pesticide
Percentage of farmers
Content
Yes No Not sure
Understand how to make bio-fertilizer 86% 14% -
Interested in making bio-fertilizer 100% 0% -
Bio-fertilizer is benefit to farmland 95% 5% -
Want to continue making bio-fertilizer 100% 0% -

Understand how to make bio-pesticide 91% 9% -

Interested in making bio- pesticide 98% 2% -
Bio-pesticide is benefit to farmland 86% 2% 12%
Want to continue making bio- pesticide 98% 2% -

Knowing the safety use of pesticide before attend this workshop 60% 40% -
Doing the safety use of pesticide before attend this workshop 65% 35% -
Understanding the safety use of pesticide through this workshop 98% 2% -
Willing to adapt the safety use of pesticide 98% 2% -
Source: Results from the questionnaire survey (ERECON, 2011)

Evaluating participatory level: Additionally, the results of questionnaire survey conducted after
the 1st workshop showed that 93% of farmers were applying chemical fertilizer and only 7% were
applying cow manure instead of chemical fertilizer. However, after 2 years with 4 times of
workshops and training, farmers’ adaptability for organic fertilizer increased. The level of
participation was evaluated according to the answers in questionnaire survey and attitudes of
farmers in workshops. There are various levels or degrees of farmers’ participation as shown in
Table 6. The evaluation of level or degree of farmers’ participation is important for increasing
farmers’ adaptability for organic fertilizer application.
At the 1st workshop, although many farmers attended, it was evaluated as low participation at
Level 2 or 3, because most of them participated only for responding to the requests for attending.
However, farmers became active after understanding the benefits of composting and bio-fertilizer
/pesticide making at the 3rd workshops. At the 4th workshop, Roung Kor safety agriculture group
was established and farmers’ participation was very high and they were willing to adapt organic
fertilizer to their farmlands. So the level or degree of farmers’ participation was evaluated as
interactive participation at Level 6.
The awareness of disadvantages to human and environment of agricultural chemicals pushed
farmers to find natural materials for making compost, liquid bio-fertilizer and liquid bio-pesticide
in order to increasing the nutrients to crop and control pest or plant diseases in farmland. Recently,
farmers pay attention to produce and develop liquid bio-fertilizer or liquid bio-pesticide using some
kinds of trees, herbs or spices which are available to that area. As these liquid bio-fertilizer and
liquid bio-pesticide are new knowledge for farmers in Roung Kor village. However, various
workshops and trainings could lead them to see and accumulate experiences of those practices. As
more than 98% of farmers were willing to continue making bio-fertilizer and bio- pesticide as well

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as to adapt the safety use of pesticide, so establishing the farmers’ group had advantage to make
continue and enhance of organic farming practices.

Table 6 Level of participation

Level Type
1 Passive participation
2 Participation in
information giving
3 Participation by
consultation
4 Participation for
material incentives
5 Functional
participation
6 Interactive
participation
7 Self-mobilization
Source: Pretty (1994), adapted from Adnan et al. (1992)
Characteristics of each type
People participate by being told what is going to happen or has already happened.
It is a unilateral announcement by an administration or project management
without any listening to people's responses. The information being shared belongs
only to external professionals.
People participate by answering questions posed by extractive researches using
questionnaire surveys or similar approaches. People do not have the opportunity to
influence proceedings, as the findings of the research are neither shared nor
checked for accuracy.
People participate by being consulted, and external agents listen to views. These
external agents define both problems and solutions and may modify these in the
light of people's responses. Such a consultative process does not concede any share
in decision making, and professionals are under no obligation to take on board
people's views.
People participate by providing resources, for example labour, in return for food,
cash, or other material incentives. Much on-farm research falls in this category, as
faermers provide the fields but are not involved in the experimentation or the
process of learning. It is very common to see this called participation, yet people
have no stake in prolonging activities when the incentives end.
People participate by forming groups to meet predetermined objectives related to
the project, which can involve the development or promotion of externally initiated
social organization. Such involvement does not tend to be at early stages of project
cycles or planning, but rather after major decisions have been made. These
instructions tend to be dependent on external initiators and facilitators, but may
become self-dependent.
People participate in joint analysis, which leads to action plans and the formation
of new local institutions or the strengthening of existing ones. It tends to involve
interdisciplinary methodologies that seek multiple perspectives and make use of
systemic and structured learning processes. These groups take control over local
decisions, and so people have a stake in maintaining structures or practices.
People participate by taking initiative independent of external institution to change
systems. They develop contacts with external institutions for resources and
technical advice they need, but retain control over how resources are used. Such
self-initiated mobilization and collective action may or may not challenge existing
inequitable distribution of wealth and power.

CONCLUSION

According to the results through the observation and questionnaire surveys, many of farmers
wanted to reduce chemicals application and the expenses for agricultural chemicals, if there were
other things being available to replace. In order to improve the farming systems and economical
conditions, it is important to provide the appropriate knowledge and to improve the technologies of
farming practices for farmers. It is no doubt that this project has been contributed well for
improving the farming systems and economical conditions at Roung Kor village. Sustainable
agriculture enhances the quality of life for farmers and society, and in the long term enhances
environmental quality and natural resources which agriculture depends. The capacity building of
farmers and their institutions is essential for achieving a balance among economic, social and
environmental development goals. Farmer-centered development and farmers’ awareness was
created to facilitate farmers to develop by them. The participation of farmers means that farmers
assume a major role in decision-making and managing their own affairs. Efforts should be made to
build confidence in farmers so that they make decisions on how to solve the facing problems. Other
players such as governments and NGOs have a supportive role, providing some guidance, advices,
comments, and trainings for building farmers’ confidence. Grouping of farmers is a way for
facilitating among farmers through exchanging knowledge and experiences related to agricultural

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practices in sustainable way.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This project titled Empowerment and Revitalization Project for Farmer’s Organization in Africa
and Asia has been supported by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan. It is
also grateful that the Institute of Environment Rehabilitaion and Conservation (ERECON) and the
Japan Association for International Collaboration of Agriculture and Forestry (JAICAF) has been
advanced the implementation.

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ERECON. 2011. ERECON Newsletters, 2010-1, 2010-2, 2011-1, 2011-2, Institute of Environment
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